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A. I. LOUNSBERRY, OF SOMERVILLE, TENNESSEE.

HERNIAL TRUSS.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALLEN I. LOUNSBERRY, of Somerville, in the county of Fayette and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and Improved Style of Hernia Truss; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and accurate description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The principal feature of this invention and upon which its utility and excellence mainly depend, consists in the peculiar form of the front plate or pubic-brace and its combination as a strong support to the bowels and abdomen vwith the curative action of the balls upon the track of the inguinal canal, and its peculiar connection with the other parts of the apparatus.

Figure l represents an external view of the pubic-brace. This brace is made of sole leather firmly and densely pressed in a mold made for that purpose so as to have acquired the tenacity of horn, and is shaped so as to fit the parts exactly except at the top where it curves outward somewhat in the shape of the rim of a china washbowl. The lower half, or little more, of this brace is lined ,with a metallic plate (y, y, represent-ed in Fig. 5) firmly fastened to the leather. This plate may be made in either one or two pieces. The advantage of this peculiar shape is that the brace thus formed exerts a general upward and backward pressure upon the inguinal regions at the bottom, while the outward curve at the top acts as a support for the bowels without exerting any inward or downward pressure. Fig. 2 represents an interior view of the pubic brace, with the metallic plate y, y, the slides L, L, and the balls, F, F, attached. The slides L, L, are made of metal and fastened to the brace by screws passing through the holes a, a, a, in the brace and the holes N, N, in either end of the slide. These screws in either end of the slide act as pivots on which the slide turns, and, the length of the slide being a radius which describes the circles of the holes c, a, a, the other end may be fastened in either of the holes a, a, a; so that the balls F, F, on the slides L, L, may be raised or lowered to any part of the metallic plate y, y. The balls F, F, (or as better represented in Fig. 3), are made of metal, or of wood covered with buckskin, in the shape of the small end of an egg, flat at the base and attached by a screw E, with a large flat head, to the metallic slides L, L, (more plainly represented in Fig. 4L), through the curved openings J, J'. The necks of these screws slide along the curved openings J, J, from right to left, while the large flat heads of the same screws, which fasten the balls F, F, to the slides L, L, pass between them and the metallic plate y, y. The upward and downward movement of the slides L, L, on the metallic plate y, y, combined with that of the balls F, F, along the curved openings J, J, in the slides `L, L, from rightto left, is such that the balls F, F, may be readily fitted toany rupture in the inguinal regions whatever may be its location or on whatever sized person. A sacral pad A, A, B, about five inches wide at the center is nearly straight at the top, but curves at the bottom and terminates on the right and left in the ilial straps C, C, which pass over the ossa ilii to the pubic brace and attach to the buckles D, D. The sacral pad is made of morocco and lined with silk velvet, and to the lower edge thereof (which is intendedlto rest upon the os sacram) is attached on either side of the curve the sub-gluteal straps G, G, which pass under the gluteal muscles and attach to the pubic brace by the buckles I, I, screwing to secure the pubic brace in its proper position. To the upper edge of the sacral pad near the center thereof are attached two buttons O, O, to which are connected two elastic -shoulder straps which pass upover the shoulders and down to the ilial straps to which they are connected by buttons T, T, directly over the os ilii. These elastic shoulder straps are intended to aid in keeping the ilial straps in a proper position, and to aid in keeping the draft of the latter upon the pubic brace in a proper direction. y

Wvhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The peculiar shape of. the balls, F, F, and their arrangement upon the slides L, L, so that they may be moved upward and downward and right and left to any pa'rt of the metallic plate y, y, on the pubic brace and thus be fitted to any rupture in the abdominal rings, or on any sized person, and their combination with the pubic brace as above described.

A. I. LOUNSBERRY.

Teste:

M. S. WATKINS, W. P. FINNEY. 

